Website of Harwell Parish Council, Harwell Village, Oxfordshire, England
Commercial buildings and associated works at former Esso Research Centre, Abingdon Road, Milton
Amended plans received August 2021
Erection of 5no. commercial buildings including 4no. for purposes within Classes B2 and B8 (Units 1, 2, 4 and 5) and 1no. for purposes within Classes E(g)(iii), B2 and B8 (Units 3a and 3b) together with access and servicing arrangements, parking, landscaping, boundary treatment, gatehouse building and associated works
Location Former Esso Research Centre Abingdon Road Milton Hill Abingdon
NB Council is not a consultee but response has been approved for submission June 2021
AMENDED plans August 2021
| P21/V1171/FUL |
Commercial buildings and associated works at former Esso Research Centre, Abingdon Road, Milton |
|---|---|
| Status | Objects |
| Major application? | |
| Registration Date | 5 May, 2021 |
| Consultation Start Date | 17 May, 2021 |
| Consultation End Date | 24 August, 2021 |
| Target Decision Date | 10 September, 2021 |
| PC Meeting Date | 19 August, 2021 |
| PC Comments | Amended application August 2021 - Objection as none of the the issues raised have been adequately addressed. Surrounding roads are not suitable and therefore nothing should be going ahead until the Rowstock Relief, Featherbed Lane, Milton Hill etc, projects have been decided upon and implemented Original application June 2021 - Harwell Parish Council objects to this application on the following grounds - • The site is not classed as a Strategic Employment Site in the Local Plan Part 1. The council supports the comments from East Hendred Parish Council regarding Local Plan Policy CP28. • The location is not sustainable in transport terms. • The site lacks quality pedestrian and cyclist links, to any of the nearby villages. Current footpaths are sub-standard in width, there are no crossings and the footpaths are not continuous on either side of the A4130. There is no safe direct pedestrian access to Harwell village other than via a lengthy detour via Rowstock or Milton Interchange. There is no cycling infrastructure connecting to the site. • Concerns regarding light pollution which will have a detrimental effect on the area and needs to be mitigated. This site has an elevated position/rural position which exacerbates the impact. • Previous approved applications limited height of buildings to 12m. These buildings are taller, up to 17m. The previous restrictions should stay. • Concerns that traffic accessing site will increase flows through Harwell village and Grove Road. Concerns over traffic increase through Rowstock, particularly of large articulated lorries (diversions from A34 closures already lead to an increase in large lorries using the A4130 through Rowstock, leading to complaints from residents about speed, noise, pollution, possible damage to property and lack of sleep). The council shares the concerns of residents. Traffic calming measures should be considered for Rowstock as part of the application. • Highways England says HGVs should not be diverted from the A34 along the A4130. This should be a consideration when assessing the application – if a highways agency says a road is unsuitable for large lorries it should not be suitable for a distribution centre. • The application/development plans need to be considered in conjunction with improvements to A4130 - https://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/residents/roads-and-transport/roadworks/future-transport-projects/featherbed-lane-and-steventon and alongside other proposed development in the area, eg major applications at Harwell Campus. Development should not proceed until these works are completed. Lots of development in this area and there needs to be joined up thinking across the different projects. • Traffic modelling: • Serious concerns over junction capacity as there are a significant number of on road cyclists using this area in peak hours due to inadequate alternative provision and modelling does not capture the capacity-reducing effect of this. Queries also on quality of the modelling performed as there appear to be very inconsistent results compared to other applications. An example : Claim that Fermi Gate traffic has been included in modelling, yet Fermi Gate application (P20/V1667/O TIS table 2.10) has A4185(W) at RFC of 1.007 PM peak in 2025. This application claims A4185(W) RFC PM peak of 0.57 in 2031 (Transport Assessment table 7.9). • Proposed development is too urban for a rural site with 80% hardstanding. Should the development be permitted, traffic calming measures will be required, safe crossings and pavements should be included for pedestrians, cycle lanes should be provided and speed limits should be lowered so that the A4130 between Milton Interchange and the site is a 30 mph zone.. All traffic to and from the site should be routed via Milton Interchange and not through Rowstock. The frequency of buses at peak times should be improved to the site to encourage usage over cars. |
| Neighbours? | |
| Vale Decision Date | |
| Vale Decision | No decision yet |
| Vale Link | P21/V1171/FUL Application Link |
| Show on map | P21/V1171/FUL Map Link |
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